It would appear that Britain’s schools are slowly getting better. Last year we learnt that, despite spending far more money than most, the UK had slipped in the global education rankings and was being outperformed by developing nations. Now, after four years of reforms that seem sensible to most yet oddly apocalyptic to the Left, the GCSE league tables register an improvement. Some 250,000 fewer pupils are attending failing schools. This has happened as tougher standards have been introduced, which indicates that making greater demands of teachers and pupils brings demonstrably better results from both. That proposition might be perfectly logical, but it runs counter to the obsession that the Government’s opponents have with putting equality before quality.

The task of Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, has only just begun. He has to overcome years of poor standards and low ambition. A Herculean effort is required to compel the educational establishment to embrace classroom discipline and harder exams. And there have been some small disappointments along the way, including the veto of a grammar school’s expansion in Kent.

Nevertheless, this is good news for the impressive Mr Gove and good news, too, for the Government. This week also saw the release of excellent jobs statistics, showing the biggest quarterly rise in employment on record and the largest fall in joblessness since 1997. In other words, the Conservatives’ economic strategy is helping. So, too, is their boldness on welfare reform. Again, the full programme of changes to benefits has not yet been implemented. But already, the message that welfare dependency has to be reduced has encouraged thousands to seek employment.

It is the Tories who should gain most from this week of encouraging numbers. Education, the economy and welfare are areas where Conservative policy has largely dominated the Coalition, with notable instances of Lib Dem resistance to change. It was Nick Clegg’s complaint that his office was always having to deal with “problems” arising from an “out of control” Department for Education.

Moreover, Labour has consistently fought genuine reform. It opposed Mr Gove’s efforts, the scale of the Government’s austerity plan and the attempt to challenge the benefits culture. As the long 2015 campaign begins, David Cameron should be feeling a little more confident. On the issues that truly matter to voters, he is building a portfolio of success. Labour, by contrast, has a record of failure that few voters will have forgotten come election day.